By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 17, 2023: UNION Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, participated in the Investor Forum of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) & Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). The Forum, a moderated discussion, was co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ms. Gina Raimondo and Senior Advisor to the President Mr. Amos Hochstein with the discussion centred on collaborative actions and shared priorities to increase private investment in the Indo-Pacific.

The Forum was also attended by Ministers and senior officials from IPEF partner countries including the Prime Minister of Fiji, His Excellency Mr. Sitiveni Rabuka, and Minister of Trade of Korea His Excellency Mr. Dukgeun Ahn; and corporate leaders including Co-CEO of KKR Joseph Bae; Chairman and CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink; CEO of Citi Jane Fraser; Founder and Chairman of Fortescue Andrew Forrest; Founding Partner of Global Infrastructure Partners Matthew Harris; Founding Partner, Chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners Adebayo Ogunlesi; President, CIO and CFO of Alphabet and Google Ruth Porat; Founder and CEO of RockCreek Afsaneh Beschloss; and Founding Partner and Executive Chair of TPG Jim Coulter.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in her address to the forum highlighted the continuing partnership between India and USA through the Green Transition Fund co-created by U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) aimed at providing climate impact benefits and accelerating the development of clean-energy transition projects in India through investments in solar, energy storage, and e-mobility.

The Minister in his address extended his appreciation to IPEF partners on the conclusion of negotiations on Pillar-III (Clean Economy) and Pillar-IV (Fair Economy) and emphasised on India's commitment to enhancing ease of doing business, ushering in transparency in business regulatory ecosystem, delivering sustainable growth and development.

Thereafter, the Minister participated at the APEC Informal Leader's Dialogue where he highlighted India's environmental leadership in successfully meeting the renewable energy target of 175 gigawatt nine years ahead of its target. Additionally, he also called upon the world leaders to join hands as a global community to construct a future where sustainability is not a distant aspiration but a way of life and where climate action is not a burden but an opportunity for innovation and growth.

As part of day's engagements, the Minister joined the world leaders at IPEF Leader's Meeting. The engagement was attended by several world leaders including His Excellency Mr. Joe Biden, President of the United States of America. Several IPEF initiatives such as Critical Minerals dialogue, Investment Accelerator, Catalytic Fund, Investor Forum, IPEF Networks etc were announced during the meeting.

Besides participating at the PGII Investor Forum, APEC engagements, including the dinner reception for APEC Leaders, and IPEF Leaders' meetings, the Minister during the day held several bilateral and one-to-one meetings with world leaders and corporate giants. He met H.E. Mr. Juan Carlos Mathews, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, and discussed ways to enhance bilateral trade and investment linkages, reviewed progress of bilateral FTA negotiations and suggested expedited conclusion. The Minister also met Mr. Alex Rogers, President, Qualcomm Technology Licensing & Global Affairs and discussed the vast opportunities for collaboration that India's rapidly evolving semiconductor ecosystem & robust innovation landscape offers to companies like Qualcomm.